Routing device with movable routing tool

ABSTRACT

Routing devices that can conveniently, quickly and efficiently cause door panels, or the like, to be slotted on a mass production basis for purposes of associating hinges therewith that require slots formed in the panels. The routing tools are movable and the panels are held stationary.

United States Patent White [54] ROUTING DEVICE WITH MOVABLE ROUTING TOOL [72] Inventor: Kenneth N. White, Orland Park, Ill.

[731 Assignees: Harold Meyer; White-Meyer Wood Products, Inc., Orland Park, Ill. part interest to each [22] Filed: Dec. 31, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 889,591

[52] US. Cl. ..l44/136, 144/133 R, 144/251 A [51] Int. Cl. ..B27f l/02, B27f 5/02, B27c 5/04 [58] Field of Search ..l44/133, 136, 85, 87, 251;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Laughlin...- 1 44/1 33 51 Sept. 19, 1972 2,742,935 4/1956 Acton ..143/l68 X 1,701,912 2/1929 De Walt ..l44/25l X 3,470,924 10/ l 969 Short 144/1 33 2,850,058 9/1958 Stoll ..l43/l68 X Primary Examiner-Donald R. Schran Attorney-Alter, Weiss & Whitesell ABSTRACT Routing devices that can conveniently, quickly and efficiently cause door panels, or the like, to be slotted on a mass production basis for purposes of associating hinges therewith that require slots formed in the panels. The routing tools are movable and the panels are held stationary.

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEI] SEP 19 1912 sum 1 er 3 INVENTOR KENNETH N. WHITE BYWCWW ATTORNEYS P'A'IENTEnsEPwm 3.692075 SHEET 2 UF 3 INVENTOF? KENNETH N WHITE ATTORN EYS PATENTEUSEPIQIHTZ 3,692,075

sum 3 0F 3;

i INVENTOR KENNETH N. WHITE F168 BY i ATTORNEYS 1 ROUTING DEVICE WITH MOVABLE ROUTING TOOL This invention-relates to routing devices and more particularly to routing devices that are suitable for routing a T slot, or the like, in a panel which is to be associated with hinges that require certain types of slots in the panels.

The routing devices provided herein are unique from the standpoint that wood panels, or the like, can be speedily and conveniently positioned thereon and routed by selectively moving the routing tool which is slidably mounted.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide new and improved router devices which enable the mass production of panels that are especially suited for having hingesassociated therewith, with a minimum of fasteners.

It is still further an object of this invention to provide a new and improved routing device that can be used with panels of different sizes with the same mode of operation.

Other and further objects of this invention will become readily apparent from reading the specification and claims in connection with the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a new and improved routing device embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along a plane passing through the line 2-2 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along a plane passing through the line 3-3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

' FIG. 4 is a pictorial view illustrating still another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an enlarged fragmentary pictorial view of the routing device illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the routing device in FIG. 4 with a work piece associatedtherewith;

FIG. 7 is a pictorial view of still another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a pictorial view of a panel with a slot routed therethrough, as produced by any one of the embodiments of the invention illustrated herein.

Referring to the drawings wherein like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout, one of the embodiments of the invention is illustrated as a table type routing device 10 that has a carriage 12 that supports a rotatably driven routing tool bit 47. The carriage 12 is slidably mounted for actuation into a selectively positioned work piece. The table type routing device 10 is mounted on legs (not shown) and has an open top with the sides 16a defining an enclosure or a cavity with a bottom portion (not shown) to'receive the shavings from the routing tool. The top of the table is illustrated as having a plurality of support bars 18 extending transversely across the table and-being fastened by the bolt members 18a at each end thereof. An L shaped stop means 20 extends across the top of the table substantially transverse to the support bars 18. The L shaped stop means is known as having a characterized aperture 22 and a cutter shield 24 which also has a characterized aperture that is in alignment and in registry with the characterized aperture 22. The aperture 22 is preferably shaped in the form of a T for purposes of receiving the particular routing tool bit 47 employed therein.

2 A-pair of casted side stops'26are rotatably mounted by means of the rings 26a onto a cylindrical bar member 30 that extends from one end of the table toward the center and is mounted on a pair of support to the cylindrical bar member 30 so that the side stops I .26 can be adjusted for different size panels thereby making the routing device substantially universal.

'I'I'ie carriage 12 is slidably mounted on a pair of cylindrical rails 41 that extend transversely in proximity with the top of the table so that the carriage may be slidably and reciprocally moved there along. The carriage 12 is illustrated as having a pair of support platforms 43 with rings 43a depending therefrom in slidable engagement with respect to .the cylindrical rails 41 supporting the platform.

The plafiorm has the housing 45 for a drivingmotor (not shown) depending therefrom and attached thereto so that the routing tool bit 47 can extend upward therefrom and be positioned for cutting.

' A U-shaped handle 50 is associated with the support platform 43 by being fastened through the plate 50a extending from each end of the U-shaped handle. A cutter shield 52 is slidably mounted with respect to the platform 43 by means of carriage rails 54 that extend transversely across the top of the table and are in proximity with the platform 43. A biasing means (not shown), normally biases the cutter shield 52 in direction A toward the stop means 29 so that when a work piece or panel (shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2) is fed into the device, it immediately makes contact with the panel and when the panel is removed, the cutter shield obstructs the routing tool by being beases over it. When the leading edge of shield 52 contacts the side C of the work piece, the shield 52 is held stationary, so that it, in effect, moves back against the bias means, in direction B, with respect to the motion of bit 47. Actually, the shield 52 stands still against edge C while the bit 47 moves out from under the shield and cuts the work piece.

From areview of the drawings, it will be noted that the panels can either be fed into the routing device in vertical position as illustrated in phantom in FIG. 2 or heldin a horizontal position as also therein illustrated. Where the panels are held in the routing device vertically, a plurality of panels can be slotted. On the other hand, where the panels are held and supported by the routing device horizontally, merely one panel is customarily slotted.

In operation, the routing device is first adjusted to position a panel or other type of work piece for slotting. In this preferred embodiment, the adjustments are made by positioning the slip rings so that the side stop means 26 are in position to align the work pieces. By having a plurality of side stop means 26, different sizes of the work pieces can be used for alignment where slots are desired on different sides of the work piece and the slot is to be located differently with respect to the alignment side of the work piece. Thus, the side stops 26 can be rotatably positioned and selectively used when desired. Where it is desired to use a particular side stop 26, it is rotated in position, and the other side stop is rotated out of the way of the table as illustrated in FIG. 1. As the work piece is positioned on the table, the cutter shield 52 is moved so that it does not obstruct the routing tool bit 47. After the work piece is positioned with one portion thereof against one of the side stops 26 and another portion thereof against the L shaped stop means 20, the motor of the router is actuated and the routing tool bit 47 rotates. The handle 50 of the carriage is actuated toward the routing tool bit 47 and after the routing tool cuts through the work piece, the cutting shield 52 obstructs access of the routing tool to the top of the table because of the fact that it is biased against the L shaped frame 20.

Thus, it will be seen from a description of the operation that a universal routing device than can be em ployed to expeditiously slot panels on a mass production basis has been provided. Further, it should be realized that this preferred embodiment is not the only form the invention can take.

For instance, in FIGS. 4 thru 6, a modified version of the invention is provided wherein an L shaped stop means 57 has a bracket 59 fixedly attached thereto and disposed at a certain inclination with respect thereto. The bracket 59 is substantially rectangularly shaped and has a pair of sliding plates 60, 61 on each side thereof with a bottom plate 63 that has a curved portion 63a formed therein. The curved portion 63a conforms to the curvature of a portion of the substantially circular portion 56 forming the bottom or carriage S6 of the routing device 67 which has the routing tool 68 extending therefrom.

A vertical standard 70 extends from the bracket 59 and is adapted for having a toggle clamp member 72 attached thereto by means of the bolts 74. An L shaped stop member 57 has a characterized aperture 57a which is formed to receive the routing tool 68 there through when it is desired to slot a work piece or panel 76 which is shown in phantom in FIG. 6. The L shaped frame member 57 can be fixedly or removably attached to a table. Once this is done, the work piece can be positioned therein as illustrated in FIG. 6 by means of the toggle clamp member 72. Then, once the routing tool starts to rotate, it can be actuated into contact with the panel member by means of reciprocatingly sliding the tool along the sliding plates 60, 61. By having the bracket 59 at a certain angular inclination to the L shape member 57, the slots are routed at an angle. Such an angle in the instance of the invention described herein provides a tighter fit with the hinge members that are going to be used for association with the slots. It will however be realized that the angle is not necessary for purposes of illustrating the operation of the invention.

It will thus be seen from this explanation that FIGS. 4 thru 6 are illustrative of an inexpensive mode of routing panels in an expeditious fashion for purposes of mass producing slots therein by providing the bracket with the L shape member 57 in the combination illustrated. A panel work piece can be anchored onto a table and positioned selectively and in a predetermined fashion with respect to the routing machine which can thereafter be actuated along its track to route slots in a predetermined fashion.

In another form of the invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, a bracket member 80 of substantially rectangular shape is fixedly attached to a pair of bottom members 81, 82 and a routine machine 84 is slidably associated with a pair of cylindrical rods 86, 87 by means of ring members 88, 89 which are attached to the base plate that is in turn attached to the motor which rotatably drives the routing tool 91. An L shaped support member 93 is slidably associated with the bracket member 80 and has a characterized aperture 93 formed thereon to allow for movement of the routing tool therethrough. A toggle clamp 94 is associated with the top thereof and anchors a work piece by means of a slotted stop member 96 which is interposed between the work piece and the clamp member. Thus, when a work piece is positioned in the routing device illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 and the routing machine is slidably actuated, the routing tool 91 is caused to move through the characterized aperture 93a of stop means 93 and the work piece and finally is stopped by the slotted stop number 96 to thereby route out a slot of the type illustrated in FIG. 9.

Having thusseen that there are many ways the invention herein can take form and that in all cases the new and improved routing device which has versatility and can be efficiently and expensively used for mass form ing slots in panels, ergo the objectives of the invention herein have been fulfilled in a remarkably unexpected fashion.

While I have shown a specific arrangement of the parts and features constituting my invention, I am fully cognizant of the fact that many changes may be made in the features and their arrangement, and I reserve the rights to make such changes as I may deem convenient or necessary without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

l. A routing device that is suitable for slotting panels so that they can have hinges associated therewith, said device comprising:

routing tool means that is power driven,

carriage means associated with said routing tool having a router bit on one side of said carriage and a motor on the other side, means for supporting and locating a panel in order to selectively slot said panel with a slot having a cross section corresponding to the cross section of the bit of said routing tool,

said supporting and locating means including a stop means as well as a means for locating said panel within a certain plane, said stop means having an aperture slightly larger than the cross section of said bit,

wherein the stop means include at least a pair of rotatably mounted side stop members,

said side stop members being adjustable so that they can be used to optionally guide panels of different dimensions to different positions for slotting,

said side stop means being by rotation alternately positionable to guide said panels, whereby the side stops which are not in use for purposes of guiding can be rotated out of the way of a panel being routed,

said carriage means being slidably mounted for reciprocally actuating said routing tool toward said aperture into contact and away from said panel in order to route out slots from said panel,

a biased cutting shield means being slidably mounted on said carriage to cover said router bit at all times except when said bit is cutting into a work piece,

said cutting shield being slidably mounted on said carriage, and

said spring biased cutting shield obstructing access to the bit of said routing tool after the tool completes routing a panel and the panel is removed.

2. A routing device, as defined in claim 1, wherein said aperture in the stop means has a characterized aperture with the cross-section of said bit formed therein in alignment with said routing tool, 

1. A routing device that is suitable for slotting panels so that they can have hinges associated therewith, said device comprising: routing tool means that is power driven, carriage means associated with said routing tool having a router bit on one side of said carriage and a motor on the other side, means for supporting and locating a panel in order to selectively slot said panel with a slot having a cross section corresponding to the cross section of the bit of said routing tool, said supporting and locating means including a stop means as well as a means for locating said panel within a certain plane, said stop means having an aperture slightly larger than the cross section of said bit, wherein the stop means include at least a pair of rotatably mounted side stop members, said side stop members being adjustable so that they can be used to optionally guide panels of different dimensions to different positions for slotting, said side stop means being by rotation alternately positionable to guide said panels, whereby the side stops which are not in use for purposes of guiding can be rotated out of the way of a panel being routed, said carriage means being slidably mounted for reciprocally actuating said routing tool toward said aperture into contact and away from said panel in order to route out slots from said panel, a biased cutting shield means being slidably mounted on said carriage to cover said router bit at all times except when said bit is cutting into a work piece, said cutting shield being slidably mounted on said carriage, and said spring biased cutting shield obstructing access to the bit of said routing tool after the tool completes routing a panel and the panel is removed.
 2. A routing device, as defined in claim 1, wherein said aperture in the stop means has a characterized aperture with the cross-section of said bit formed therein in alignment with said routing tool, said stop means acting to locate said panel in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to said side stops, and a guard means behind said characterized aperture whereby actuation of said routing tool toward said characterized aperture forms said slot in said panel, and said routing tool is stopped by said guard once it protrudes through said characterized aperture. 